Waterproof panties for infants



May 26, 1970 w, w. ARTZ 3,513,847

WATERPROOF PANTIES FOR INFANTS Filed March 22, 1967 ATTORNEY United States Patent "ice 3,513,847 WATERPROOF PANTIES FOR INFANTS William Walter Artzt, 116 E. 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021 Filed Mar. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 625,046 Int. Cl. A61f 13/16 US. Cl. 128288 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Waterproof panties for infants are formed of a single sheet of relatively thin, flexible thermoplastic material which is moisture impervious and folded upon itself to provide two superposed plies constituting front and back portions joined at the fold and at their side edges, as by heat seals therealong, the superposed plies being cut along lines diverging from the fold to the side edges and each having arcuate extremities to define leg openings with cusps at the fold and heat seals for resisting tearing of the leg openings. The leg openings and waist opening may have unfinished edges, or the edges of the sheet which define the waist opening may be folded over and heat sealed to define a hem for receiving a draw string.

The present invention relates to waterproof panties, for example, for use over infants diapers.

Waterproof panties presently in use are made of fairly heavy rubber or plastic materials and have stitched hems receiving elastic bands along the edges of the leg and waist openings. By reason of the materials and stitching operations required for their manufacture, such panties are expensive and thus cannot be discarded after a single use. Although the existing waterproof panties can be periodically washed, they become unattractively discolored and acquire an unpleasant odor.

It is an object of this invention to provide waterproof panties, particularly for use over infants diapers, which are sufiiciently inexpensive to permit the discarding thereof after a single use.

In order to minimize the material and labor costs involved in the manufacture of waterproof panties in accordance. with this invention, such panties are formed of a single sheet of thin, moisture-impervious thermoplastic material subjected to simple folding, heat sealing and cutting operations which can be performed by automatic machinery, and finishing of the edges of the garment, at least around the leg openings, is eliminated.

According to an aspect of this invention, thin flexible thermoplastic sheet material is folded upon itself to provide two superposed plies constituting front and back portions joined at the fold and at their side edges, as by heat seals along such edges, and the two plies are out along lines diverging from the fold to the side edges and each having arcuate extremities to define leg openings having cusps at the fold and heat seals for resisting tearing of the thin plastic material at the unfinished edges of the leg openings.

The waist opening as well as the leg openings may have unfinished edges, or the edges of the sheet which define the waist opening may be folded over and heat sealed to define a hem for receiving a draw string by which the waist can be contracted for retaining the panties on an infant.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of a blank of plastic material from 3,513,847 Patented May 26, 1970 which waterproof panties in accordance with this invention may be produced;

FIG Z 2 is a view of the blank following the folding thereof and the heat sealing of its side edges;

FIG. 3 is a front view of waterproof panties according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged side elevational view of the panties showing the configuration of a leg opening thereof;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing a blank for producing waterproof panties according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the completed panties produced from the blank of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, detail sectional view taken along the line 7-7 on FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawing in detail and initially to FIGS. 14 thereof, it will be seen that waterproof panties 10* in accordance with this invention are produced from a single piece of flexible thermoplastic sheet material, for example, the rectangular blank 12 of such material shown on FIG. 1. The blank 12 is folded upon itself at the transverse medial line 14 so that the parts 12a and 12b of the blank divided by fold line 14 provide two superposed plies (FIG. 2) joined at fold 14. The superposed plies 12a and 12b of the folded blank are further joined at their side edges, as by heat seals 16 and 18. Plies 12a and 12b are cut along lines 20 and 22 (FIG. 3) diverging from fold 14 to heat sealed side edges 16 and 18 to define leg openings, as at 24 on FIG. 4, which openings are separated by the remaining fold 14 defining a crotch portion of the garment (FIG. 3).

In order to minimize the cost of manufacture of panties 10 the plastic sheet material of which the same are formed is of thin gauge and the edges of at least the leg openings 24 are left unfinished, that is, not bound, hemmed or otherwise reinforced. Such thin plastic material is particularly susceptible to tearing where the unfinished edges of leg openings 24 traverse fold 14 and heat sealed side edges 16 and 18. However, in accordance with this invention, the lines 20 and 22 along with plies 12a and 12b are cut to form the leg openings each have arcuate extremities 26 (FIG. 3) at the ends of their generally straight medial portions and which, at their intersections with fold 14 and side edges 16 and 18-, preferably enclose acute angles a. Thus, the unfinished edges of leg openings 24 are formed with cusps 28 and 30 (FIG. 4) at fold 14 and at the related heat sealed side edge 16 or 18.

Surprisingly, these cusp formations 29 and 30 strongly resist tearing of the thin plastic material at the corresponding, otherwise weak regions of the unfinished edges of leg openings 24.

Although waterproof panties 10 have been described above as being formed from an individual blank 12 which is folded, heat sealed at its side edges and then cut to define the leg openings, it is apparent that, in mass production of garments in accordance with this invention, it may be more economical to fold a continuous web of the thin plastic material to provide the two superposed plies with a fold along one longitudinal edge of the folded web, and then to out such plies along the lines 16, 18, 20 and 22 of FIG. 3 and simultaneously effect heat sealing of the plies along the resulting edges 16 and 18. Whether the folding, heat sealing and cutting is performed successively on an individual blank or the cutting and heat sealing are combined in a single operation, it is obvious that such operations can be easily effected by automatic machinery.

The waterproof panties 10 also have an unfinished edge 32 at the waist opening there-of. Such panties can be applied over the infants diaper and left loose at the waist, particularly when the infant is very young and merely lies in a crib; or, if desired, the panties may be secured in position, for example, by having its upper or waist edge 32 tucked or folded over the upper edge of the diaper or by safety pins attached to the diaper.

Alternatively, as shown on FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, waterproof panties 110 in accordance with the invention may have a tunnel-like hem 132 extending around its waist opening to receive a draw string 134 by which the waist can be contracted for securing the garment over an infants diaper.

The panties 110 can be manufactured substantially in the same manner as the previously described garment and the same reference numerals are used to identify the parts on FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 which are the same as the corresponding parts on FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. However, in order to provide the waist hem 132, the blank 112 for forming garment 110 has end or hem sections 132a and 132b which are folded over about fold lines 136a and 13612 and then heat sealed at their edges, as at 138 (FIGS. 6 and 7). The heat sealing of hem sections 132a and 13211 at 138 may be elfected before the folding of blank 112 about its transverse medial fold line 14, or the heat sealing of the hem sections may be effected simultaneously with the heat sealing at side edges 16 and 18 provided that, in the latter case, the front and back portions 12a and 12b are insulated from each other and thus cannot be heat sealed together to close the waist opening of the garment.

As shown on FIG. 5, hem sections 132a and 13% have openings 140 at their opposite ends, and hem section 132a, which is to appear at the front of the completed garment further has openings 142 adjacent its center. Thus, even though the heat seals 16 and 18 at the sides of waterproof panties 110 may interrupt the tunnel-like hem 132, the draw string 134, which enters and leaves the Waist hem through openings 142, can extend outwardly over seals 16 and 18 through the side openings 140 (FIG. 6).

Since panties 10 and 110 in accordance with this invention are formed of thin material and have a minimum of finished edges to minimize the cost thereof, such panties can be discarded after a single use and thereby avoid the onerous washing, discoloration and odor of the previously existing waterproof panties which were relatively expensive and thus intended for repeated use.

Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawing, it is to be understood that the 4 invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A waterproof panty garment for infants and the like, comprising a single folded piece of thin, thermoplastic, water-impervious sheet material defining two superposed plies which are joined to each other by a fold at the center of the lower end of the garment and free of each other across the upper end of the garment, said plies being also joined to each other at heat seals extending downwardly from said upper end of the garment at the opposite sides of the latter, said plies being further free of each other at superposed edges thereof diverging from the ends of said central fold to said heat sealed sides and which define leg openings, said edges being unfinished on having concave arcuate extremities at said fold and sides which enclose acute angles therewith when said plies are flatly superposed and which define cusp formations projecting from said fold and the respective heat sealed side when the garment is worn to resist tearing of the thin material at the corresponding portions of said unfinished edges.

2. A garment according to claim 1, said plies having folded-over, and heat sealed margins at the upper end to define a tunnel-like hem around the waist of the garment, and a draw-string in said hem by which the waist can be contracted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,650,182 8/1953 Green 128--287 3,150,665 9/1964 May et a1. 128288 3,225,764 12/1965 Magid 128288 3,225,918 12/1965 Mines l28287 X 3,229,875 1/ 1966 Stoller 128287 X 3,245,407 4/ 1966 Mason 128-288 3,332,423 7/ 1967 Whalen 128-288 CHARLES F. ROSENBAUM, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

